Charleston with a Clever Cougar: A Dance with Danger Mystery #6 (16 page)

“Like he did when Carole got cancer,” I
added. “Maybe that’s just Doug.”

“You know, when you’re in combat situations,
there’s nothing worse than a guy who gets the willies on you. You
can’t trust him with your life, because you don’t know which way
he’s going to swing. You can’t count on him in a crisis.”

“What do you do with a guy like that?” I
wondered.

“Honestly? You put the bastard into the
washer and dryer to get all the dumb off him. You keep putting him
through the wringer until he comes to his senses or loses them. The
truth is having a weak guy on the team can get everyone else
killed. Somewhere along the way, Doug got lost. He started taking
the easy way, looking out for Doug. He forgot about his team. Team
is everything.”

“I’m just afraid Carole will take him back
too soon,” I confessed. “I know she’s tempted. I just want her to
be happy. Maybe knowing those babies aren’t really Mimi’s
biologically will help. I saw her holding one of the triplets when
we left.”

“She seems to like the idea of being needed
by Doug, of being able to give back. When she got cancer, that
probably threw the balance of their relationship out of whack,” Doc
decided. “Who knows? Maybe those triplets will be the glue that
makes them a family again. Especially if they can get Mimi to sever
her legal claims. It shouldn’t be that hard. She’s a real danger to
Doug and all the kids.”

“Ugh, the trial. That’s going to be ugly,” I
groaned.

“Maybe she’ll take a plea deal.”

“Maybe. It would be nice if Carole and the
kids didn’t have to relive the horror of their experiences.”

“They’ll be doing that for awhile, Cady.
That’s one of the problems with traumatic experiences. Long after
the physical scars heal, you still have to deal with the fear. And
the only cure for that is to face up to it, look it square in the
eye, and understand how to do it better the next time it smacks
into you,” Doc told me. As I returned his gaze, I began to
understand his gruffness. He’d seen a lot as a medic. Almost too
much for any human to handle. “There’s no way around the cure. You
can’t keep running forever and you can’t spend the rest of your
life slap bandages on a gaping wound. Things happen, terrible
things. It’s important we find our way out of the darkness.”

“Not always easy to do, Doc.”

“Whenever I come back from a tour of duty, I
take the time to restore my faith in my fellow human beings.
Usually, it’s not as dramatic as all this. I find some folks in
need and hang around for a bit, to understand the human spirit.
It’s my way of reconnecting. It’s a reminder that there are people
out there who are still good, still decent. That helps me to finish
the emotional journey of coming home.”

“It’s not enough to arrive at the
airport?”

“No. I have to know I belong here, and that I
have something to contribute. Last time I left Afghanistan, I came
back and joined a program to benefit senior citizens. I spent three
weeks helping to renovate an elderly couple’s house with a
volunteer crew. We put in a ramp, painted and patched the place up,
even installed grab bars in the bathroom. They really appreciated
the work we did, but they also gave back to us. They fed us, fussed
over us, and shared bits and pieces of their lives. It turns out he
was at Anzio during WW II. She was a nurse at a VA hospital, caring
for the wounded. That’s the kind of stuff that helps put my
experiences into perspective, Cady. It makes me understand that I’m
not the only guy going through tough times. When I came back from
Iraq, I signed on for a month as a medic for a group of volunteer
firefighters battling wild fires out west. They needed my skills
and I needed to see that I could save lives outside a war zone.
This time around, you and Daisy needed me.”

“So, that’s why you jumped in and rescued us
after the van was hit, why you were so willing to help out at
Cady’s Cakes. That makes sense. I’m really glad you were there,
Doc, in more ways than one.” I smiled at him as he sat across the
table, feeling like that daunting wall between us had lowered a
little and I was seeing the real man. He smiled back before digging
into a big piece of apple pie a la mode.

“Good pie. I like pie.” He got a mischievous
twinkle in his eye. “I don’t suppose you’re any good with
pie....”

“I’ve had my share of compliments on my peach
pie,” I responded. “And I won blue ribbons for my deep dish apple
pie with oatmeal streusel topping.”

As I sat watching Doc eat with gusto, I
thought about how Daisy’s peril echoed my own from so long ago, and
how all my own hurt had resurfaced as the danger grew for her. And
yet, even as it did, I began to see it all in a new light. I was
not the same person as that inexperienced teenager of long ago,
saying goodbye to a dying mother. The world could still be as
cruel, but I was resourceful, I was determined, and I was even
courageous when it counted. And what I learned about myself had
benefited Daisy. Maybe even helped to save her.

“Let’s change the subject,” Doc suggested, as
he put down his fork. He studied me carefully, as if to gauge
whether his proposal would be successful. I found myself growing
nervous under his scrutiny, my hands shaking in my lap, out of
sight under the table as I waited to see what he would do. Down on
one knee in a crowded restaurant? I hoped not. “You know how you
really are a baker at heart?”

So far, so good. He wanted to talk cake, and
I was good at talking cake.

“Yes.” I gazed into those green eyes, past
the temporary nerd glasses. I thought I saw a twinkle.

“You’re not really all that hot on the coffee
roasting, are you?”

“Why?” I was instantly curious. I couldn’t
understand how coffee roasting fit into a promise of betrothal.

“Well, what I’d like to do is rent space from
you to start my own coffee company, Doc’s Brew. I’ll start the
business slowly, developing it as I go. I can roast the beans for
your shop and for retail. What about selling packaged coffee, for
folks who want to enjoy it at home? I’d like to create a few new
blends. And I’d like to do an online website. In a year or so, if
it looks like there’s a market for it, I’ll quit my job at the
insurance company and expand. Maybe I’ll hire a couple of vets, get
a distribution plan going, and market the coffee to specialty and
gift shops. I’ll invest in a bigger coffee roaster once there’s a
demand for the product.”

“This is your proposal?” I was flabbergasted.
“You want to roast coffee?”

“Sure.”

“Oh,” I replied dully. For a moment, I almost
felt disappointed. Then I reminded myself I wasn’t ready to commit
myself to Doc forever.

“What kind of proposal did you think I had in
mind -- marriage? Come on, Cady. It’s a little soon for that!” he
scoffed. “Maybe down the road a bit. But right now? We’re still
getting to know each other. And I’m just getting back into the
swing of life back in America. Remember, I’ve spent several years
in the Army. I’ve got some adjusting to do. I still start sometimes
when I hear a car backfire. It’s too soon.”

“No, no. That wasn’t what I meant, Doc,” I
stammered, trying to explain. Once again, I had put the cart before
the horse, and the horse was rearing up on its hind legs in
protest.

“Besides, we’ve only had one date and that
was interrupted by a killer, so we can’t technically call it a
date, Cady.”

“We can’t call our trip to Alforno’s a date?
What was it then?”

“Practice,” Doc grinned at me.

“Meaning what? We start again?”

“Why not?” he shrugged. “We’ll take our time
and really get to know each other. I’ll drive down to see you, and
you’ll come up to see me.”

“You’re still taking that job?” My heart sunk
at the thought of saying goodbye to Doc. I had enjoyed having him
around.

“Have to. Have to pay the bills, Cady. Have
to have money to invest in the coffee business.”

“Oh. Right.”

“It will give us the time to get used to
being with each other, make sure it’s what we really want,” he
pointed out. As soon as Doc said that, I realized I already knew it
was what I wanted. But there was also a part of me that was looking
forward to the excitement of the mating ritual. I wanted to take my
time and learn all there was to know about Doc. I wanted to have
the chance to miss him, so I would know for sure that I needed him.
And I really wanted him to need me for me.

“Who knows? Maybe a year from now, we’ll be
planning our own wedding and practicing our dance moves.”

“Meaning you want a big wedding?” I looked
across the table at the man sitting there. I knew he was teasing
me. I suspected that he already had a plan in the works, as Daisy
said.

“Absolutely. I want to shake my booty. I want
to carry on like nobody’s fool. But I want to do it when I know
I’ve got the right girl by my side.”

“Does that mean I’m a contender?” I grinned,
reaching across the table and taking his hand in mine. He gave it a
playful squeeze.

“Definitely.”

Other
Dance with Danger
Mysteries
by Sara M. Barton:

Square Dance with a Scandalous Skunk #1

Paso Doble with a Passionate Python #2

Foxtrot with a Furtive Fox #3

Bossa Nova with a Belligerent Bear #4

Mambo with a Maniacal Mako #5

Charleston with a Clever Cougar #6

No Hiding Behind the Potted Palms! --
Anthology #7

Bodacious Baby Boomer
Escapades
by Sara M. Barton:

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Prometheus
#1

The Deadly Secret of Dr. Arcanum Lock’s
Evolutionary Spirit Project #2

It Will Be Our Little Secret #3

Practical Caregiver Capers
by Sara M. Barton

Murder on the High Seas #1

The Passion Beach Psycho Strikes at Midnight
#2

The Inscrutable Case of the Nobbled Netsuke
#3

Who Snatched Aunt Marion #4

Murder at the Mountain Vale Inn #5

Having a Killer Time, Wish You Were Here!
-- Anthology #
6